As regular readers of this blog are aware, the Monday post was usually devoted to sports with highlights and analysis of the Max Kellerman show which formerly aired on 1050 ESPN Radio. As Max has resigned from 1050 and has not yet resurfaced on the NY area radio waves, I have decided to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.
Yes, I admit it, I am a long suffering New York Jets fan. I have watched the Giants win three superbowls in my lifetime, but that does not even compare to the anguish of watching the Belicheats win the Lombardi Trophy. I have seen the swamp game in Miami (3 picks to the same player!), the Browns double OT loss (I turn the game on right after shabbos ends, just in time to see the Browns kick the winning field goal), the Vinny T tease (blowing a lead to the Broncos in the AFC championship game) and countless late season collapses. But it was not until this week that I truly came to understand the NY Jets.
Following the NYJ defense's complete demolition of the Tampa Bay Bucs yesterday, I had a chance to listen to numerous player interviews about the team's prospects for the playoffs. Some players gave the party line of just focusing on the next game. Other players spoke about needing to run the table. But the one that struck me was the player (I did not catch the player's name) who talked about how the team would try to win every game that it could and not focus on the close games that were lost earlier in the season.
This kind of attitude struck a chord with me as it was a positive way at looking at the team and its performance. It also was reminiscent of a shiur that I heard last Thursday from the founder of http://www.theshmuz.com/ (aka Rabbi Shafier).
Rabbi Shafier gave a very positive look at emunah (faith) and how everything happens for a purpose. But the shiur was more than just about the basics, as Rabbi Shafier drove home the point that everything happens in the way that Hashem intends to occur by referencing Rosh Hashanah and Amazon.com.
A central belief in Judaism is that on Rosh Hashana the world is judged by Hashem. The Jews go to synagogue to pray on Rosh Hashanah to ask for good things for their families and then await the results that will come in the following year. Once Rosh Hashanah has passed, we are required to do our hishtadlus (due diligence) and Hashem will give us what we have been judged to receive.
Rabbi Shafier incorporated this concept into his shmuz by stating that people would have less regret if they understood that what occurred was the result of Hashem's judgment on Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Shafier illustrated this concept with a personal story. The night before Amazon.com went public, Rabbi Shafier had a discussion with his wife about buying into the IPO. They had previously decided that they would set aside $2,000 and buy shares at the offering price. Then Rabbi Shafier's wife mentioned that she had been reading the business section of Newsweek (which he said that she did not usually read) and that they had a negative outlook on Amazon. Based on the article, they decided not to invest in Amazon.
Rabbi Shafier then told the audience that had they bought the shares at the IPO, the current value of the $2,000 investment would be $1.4 million.
Rabbi Shafier then said - while they could use the money, it was not to be, as Hashem had decided that he was not to make this profit. Certainly, things could have turned out differently if his wife had read Time (which had a positive outlook on Amazon), or if she simply had followed her usual reading habits of skipping the business section. The fact that she had read the Newsweek business section was Hashem's way of directing the outcome that He had declared on Rosh Hashanah.
The same concept can be seen in the player's take on the NYJ season. The rest of the games on the schedule are out there to be played. In each game, the players must prepare and work hard and then play the game. Looking back on the close games that were lost will not change their outcome and the only way to move forward is to focus on the games at hand.
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